Born in the western plains

Cut my hair and changed my name

Left my home to join the fight

Marched through days

And restless nights

With my rifle and soldier's garb

And persistence in my heart

I joined the union fighting men

To put this carnage to an end

Well I ran with the 95th

Mustered on August 6th

Called upon to service

In the hills of Cumberland

I was there for Vicksburg's fall

And captured despite it all

But soon returned to contend

With the enemy once again

Oh we clandestine soldiers

Risking all exposure

We share the brunt

Of this battlefront

Where young men live and die

Despite expectations

Society's dictations

We shed our hearth for a part

Of a war we wished to fight

I served in the 7th Michigan

Mounted my steed like the wind

Proved the mettle in my soul

Attached to George Custer's patrol

And I saw no braver men

Then when I rode for Sheridan

Where my husband met his fate

Against Early's valley feint

You can call me Johnny Evans

You can call me Billy Yank

I'll be the yoke of all the action

Despite what others think

And I'll be wholly damned

If I just let only the men

Carry forth this Pyrrhic weight

This awful fight we have to make

Oh we clandestine soldiers

Risking all exposure

We share the brunt

Of this battlefront

Where young men live and die

Despite expectations

Society's dictations

We shed our hearth for a part

Of a war we wished to fight

Tears fell onto a letter I wrote

To my folks on a torn-up note

Think I'm tending wounds of all kinds

But here I am in the firing line

Captured once they found my truth

Shipped me home to save my youth

They said a woman shouldn't fight

But I keep going back every time

Oh we clandestine soldiers

Risking all exposure

We share the brunt

Of this battlefront

Where young men live and die

Despite expectations

Society's dictations

We shed our hearth for a part

Of a war we wished to fight